It's true that the question deserves to be asked, what language do the Vikings speak?
Today the Viking culture is coming back into fashion, there are series, movies, accessories, fan sites (Odin's Hall oops) that talk about and stage these great handsome Scandinavian guys we call Vikings.
However, in this set of content for obvious reasons, all these folks often speak English. What is it really like?
Norse, the quintessential Viking language
Norse is an ancient language Scandinavian which was notably spoken in... Scandinavia YES haha! No sorry, to be more precise:
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- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Iceland
- Russia
- Finland
- and other countries inhabited by the big muscular bearded men
It is then called “Old Norse” or “Old Norwegian” to describe this language spoken in these regions for several centuries, from about 750 to 1350, which covers a good part of the Middle Ages.
If you wonder what Old Norse sounds like, it is said to resemble German, there are Germanic sounds.
To give you an idea, I can recommend listening to the group SKÁLD which is one of the only, if not the only group that sings in “Old Norse”.
Here are some pieces:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGy_X_Yzurw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhUAaGds2_w
A Runic Alphabet with a lot of symbolism
The Old Norse alphabet is a very powerful Viking symbol. It has two forms.
The first is called “futhark” it refers to runic writing.
Not only do the runes represent letters that can be used to write words and thus communicate daily, but each rune has a symbolic power.
Norse words or expressions were then rich in meaning, they were not pronounced or written at random. Throughout the period when the futhark was used, we see that the runes were present everywhere.
The Vikings carved runes in different places:
- Weapons like shields
- The fronts of houses or shops
- The Viking ships, the famous Drakkars
- In the sand on beaches to protect them
- On the body as a tattoo
- On jewelry
You will also find in our e-shop jewelry and accessories with these runic engravings, you can visit our collection Viking runes to choose your jewelry.
The second form of Old Norse is used from the year 1000 and this one uses the Latin alphabet that we know well.
That is why, when we think of the Vikings' dialects, we all remember the futhark, this one is much more loaded with Scandinavian culture, history, and symbolism.
The Vikings do not speak English
To conclude this article, we can say that the Vikings until the year 1000 spoke Old Norse using the runic alphabet full of mystery and of meaning. Then around the year 1000 they used the Latin alphabet, however it is the same Scandinavian language.
It is important to specify that depending on the regions and countries, there were many variants and expressions specific to certain areas.
Some examples of sentences in French written in Old Norse:
I love you very much > Jᛖ ᛏ'ᚨᛁᛗᛖ ᚠᛟᚱᛏ
Hello to you Viking comrade! > Bᛟᚾᛃᛟᚢᚱ à ᛏᛟᛁ cᚨᛗᚨᚱᚨᛞᛖ vᛁᚲᛁᚾᚷ!
I hope to go to Valhalla > J'ᛖᛊᛈèᚱᛖ ᚨᛚᛚᛖᚱ ᚨᚢ Vᚨᛚᚺᚨᛚᛚᚨ
To make your own sentences, you can use this translation tool.
Thank you for reading, it is a pleasure to write for Odin's Hall, the reference brand in accessories inspired by Norse mythology.
Discover our collections of Viking jewelry if you share our passion for Norse mythology.
Climb aboard your drakkar, head east, towards the protection runes to learn more about the Vikings!
